Mail-box



W. F. WALKER.

MAIL 80X.

APPLICATION mm mmzo, 191s.

Patented June 22, 1920.

, ZSHEETS SHkE] I.

W. F. WALKER.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION men MAR. 20, IEH6.

2 SHEETS -SHLE 2.

WILLIAM FULTON WALKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

mAILBox.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22. 1920.

Application filed March 20, 1916. Serial No. 85,294.

' more particular reference to mail boxes for apartment buildings and the like situations.

In apartment buildings and the like Where mail matter is delivered to the tenants thereof by inserting the same in individual mail boxes assigned to the tenants respectively and usually located on the ground floor near the building entrance, much inconvenience to the postal authorities and to th tenants has heretofore resulted from the insertion thereinto of circulars, booklets, etc, by unauthorized persons, such as house-to-house advertising distributors. The tenant not only seriously objects to having a. great 'ariety of advertising matter thrust upon him in this manner, but the result frequently is that such mail boxes are so filled or stuffed with such unauthorized matter that the box id rendered incapable of receiving or of safely housing the mail proper. so far as I am aware, also, hitherto suggested mail boxes of this character have not been constructed to provide the desired security against unlawful abstraction of their contents through the mail-receiving opening. The safe housing of the ma'l in these boxes is a matter of importance both to the Grovernment and to the tenant; and the Government employees delivering mail to such boxes are personally concerned iILthe. sc curity of such mziil matter as in many cases of unlawful abstract'on from such boxes suspicion has been an ustly directed toward such employees. and t e Post Office Department is also often unjustly condemned on the same grounds.

The principal objects of the present inention are to overcome the abovementioned and other objections and disadvantages and to overcome them by simple means, easy of operation. It is also anxohject to provide an indicator-for mail matter authoritatively inserted in such box or boxes; also to provide a locked mail box which may be opened without the use of a key by the person whose mail is contained therein. thereby rendering -movemcnt of the locking bar 13.

the opening and closing of the box more con venlent than where a portable kev is employed, and also thus overcoming the disad' vantages incident to the loss or misplacement of such key; and, further, to provide simple and effective means for securing a name plate to the device. Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings. which form a part of this specification. l have illustrated a preferred embodiment of these improvements. In these drawings Figure 1 IS a rear view of a plurality of such mail boxes with the rear walls thereof removed; I 1g. 2 is a fragmentary front view showmg principally the middle box of the three shown in Fig. 1, i

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through one of the boxes as on the linedi of Fig. 1 showing the indicator in its forward position;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section on the line of Fig. 1. showing the indicator in retracted position; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

A plurality of such mail boxes are usually formed as a single unit for economy in construction and space, and l have shown thrcc thereof to illustrate the im )rovemcuts set forth. Each of the boxes A. and C is provided with an opening ill for the insertion of mail. A. closure 11 hingedly mounted as at 12 is adapted to close or obstruct thc opening 10, the closure being moved out of obstructing position by mail matter whcu the same is inserted through the opening 10.

Each closure, as 11. is indtuicndent of the other closures 11, as will be pointed out further hereinafter. A locking bar 13 is hingedly mounted. asat l4, and in the spcch.

fie arrangement shown is adapted to press aoainst each of the closures ll. a. spring. as 1:), on the hinge rod 15 being adapted to maintain the locking rod 13 against the closures 11, and thus maintain the closiu'cs 1i yieldingly in closing or obstructing position with respect to the openings 10. \l'hcn mail is inserted through an opening it! the closure 11 at that opening and the locking bar 13 are moved inwardly on their re spective pivots, against the resistance of the spring 1:"). An opening 16 in the partition walls, as l6. 16, provides clearance fmithc A lock 17 secured to the front w ll of the box and having a keyhole 1H lcar ing thereto from the front of the box has a bolt 19 adapted to engage the locking bar 13, as shown in Fig. 1, by which arrangement when the bolt 19 is in such locking position the lockin; bar in and all of the closures 11 are maintained against movement and it is impossible to insert mail through any of the openings 10.

The operation of the mail box or holes in this regard is to provide the postal authorities with a key adapted to be inserted in the keyhole 12 and to shill the bolt ll), such key being adapted to operate in all the locks of the same character in the boxes which the carrier may find on his route. The carrier, on coming to the mail boxes, operates the lock 1'? to release the locking bar 13. whereupon the individual closures arc released and the carrier is enabled to insert mail matter in any of the boxes having closures under the control of that lock. llaving made his delivery he again locks the locking bar l3, and thus renders each individual box secure not only against the insertion ofunauthorized matter. but also, and importantly. against the abstraction of mail from the box through an opening or openings 10. 1

In the preferred use of such devices an indicator is also provided for showing that authorized mail matter is within the box, such indicator avoiding the use of a glass window through which the contents of the box may be seen by the public. A preferred form of such indicator is the gravity lever 20 pivoted as at 21 intermediate its ends, one end carrying an indicator proper 22 adapted to project through an oJening 23 in the front wall of the box. gravity latch 24 pivoted as at 25 and having a weighted end 24 has a shoulder 26 adapted to engage the extended end or catch 27 of the lever 20 whereby when the parts are in their relative positions as shown in Fig. 3 the indicator lever 20 is locked. The latch 24 carries a stud or projection 28 adapted to be engaged by an inclined surface on the tripping lug or projection 29 secured tothe door 30 whereby when the door 30 is swung outwardly on its hinges 31 the end of the latch 24 carrying the stud 28 will be'depressed against thb force of gravitation operating upon the end 24 whereby the end 27 of the indicator rod 20 will come out of engagement with the shoulder 26 and the indicator proper 22 will swing inward under the force of gravitation until the same is out of indicating position. as shown in Fig. 4. When the parts are in their relative positions as shown in Fig. 4 and mail matter is inserted through the opening ll) (the locking bar 13 being unlocked) the closure 11 for that opening will engage the extension 20" of the lever 20, moving the indicator proper 22 outward into indicating position where it becomes latched and held by the latch member 24.

For locking the door 30 I provide a latch bolt 22 operated from the outside or a finger piece 33, the latch bolt being loclted by a permutation device 34. By means of a knob as 34 the pointer 36 is moved over the dial and, when the proper combination has been made, the door is opened by rocking the finger piece 33. l have not illustrated the details of the permutation luck as su h locks are well known. and any suitabie will; may be employed. I am not. aware, lain ever, that such permutation locks have been applied to mail boxes heretofore and 5 consider the combination of such permutation lock with a mail box of the charartcr described a valuable advance in the art in the convenience to the user by dispensing with a key and in the great security which the almost endless number of pcrniutaiiom at"- fords.

Another feature of improvement is in means for securing a name plate to the th vice. ln the preferred arrangement the door 30 is provided with an opening 3. and a name plate 36 is exposed thercthrough. A keeper bar or plate 37 pivoted as at :3 is adapted to maintain the name plate in its desired position, suitable means, such as the overlapping beads 39 secured to the door :3!) about the opening 35 being adapted to to operate with the bar 37 in holding the name. p ate in place. The hinge lug 4U secured to the door has an upturned flange 41, and the reduced end of the bar 3? interlits between the same and the door 30, thus locking the name plate securely in its desired position, and rendering it impossible to force the name plate into the box and thus gain access to the interior thereof. By merely swinging the holding plate or keeper 3? up ward the name plate 36 is readily inserted or removed.

In order to give direction to mail matter inserted through an opening 10 whereby it may be carried toward the rear of the box substantially uniformly and there become arranged. more systematically, the box being thus adapted to contain more mail matter than where it is permitted to fall with out such direction, I provide a deflector as 43 secured to the front wall of the box. Such deflector'has the further advantage, in mail liloxes which are not provided with a. locked closure, of preventing the abstraction of mail, bymeans of a wire inserted through the mail-receiving opening. as 10.

. The preferred form of lock for the closures I1 and locking bar 13 is such that the bolt 19 is retracted when the key in the hand of the mail carrier is merely pushed into the keyhole 18, and such that when the key is merely withdrawn the bolt 1a is forced by spring pressure into its locking position.

Locks operating on this principle are well known and no detailed description or illusignition of the same is required. As the ipring 15 automatically brings the IOClfiDg bar 13. into position to be locked as soon as the mail matter has passed into the box, it is apparent that the operation of the mail carrier is merely to insert the key on making deliveries and to Withdraw the same when he is through, the closures 11 thereupon automatically becoming locked.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of these improvements "arious changes may be made in details 'of construction and arrangement of parts Without departin from the spirit of this disclosure, and al such changes are contemplated by me as fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a mail box having an opening in the front wall thereof to receive mail, of a springpressed movable closure for said opemng, said closure being adapted to be moved when mail is inserted through said opening, a pendant oscillatory indicator within said box' under the control of said closure, said indicator being in'such v relation to said closure as to be projected outward through a suitable opening in the front wall of the box against the action of gravitation when mail is inserted through said opening, said box having a movable move by gravitation into non-indicatlng position.

2. The combination with a mail box, of an indicator therein pivoted intermediate its ends, said box having a mail opehing, a movable closure for said opening, means for locking and unlocking said closure, said closure being in operative connection with one end portion of said indicator to move the other end thereof against the force of gravitation into indicating position when mail is inserted through said opening, a latch adapted to hold said indicator in indicating position, a movable door 101' aining access to mail in; said box, said atch being under the control of said door Whereby the latch is tripped to release said indicator when the door is opened, said indicator being adapted thereupon to move by gravitation into non-indicating position.

3. In combination, a mail box having an opening in a yvall thereof for a name plate positioned inthe inside of said has at said opening so as [0 be exposed therethrough, a swinging backing piece pivoted at one end and adapted to lie against such name plate to hold the same in position at said opening, said backing piece being coextensive with said opening so as to close said opening should such name plate be removed or be absent therefrom, and means for holding the free end of said backing piege whereby said backing piece is held in such opening closing position.

WILLIA'M FULTON WALKER.

'itnesses T. I). BUTLER, JAS. H CUMMING. 

